Pope, in Monaco homily, emphasizes communion, evangelization, defense of human person
March 28, 2026
Pope Leo XIV presided at the celebration of Midday Prayer in Monaco’s Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate today (video) and preached on St. John’s teaching that “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).
“Regarding the reading we have just heard, I would like to offer you some reflections on Jesus as our ‘advocate,’“ Pope Leo preached. “The first point concerns the gift of communion.”
“Christ, the righteous one, interceding for humanity before the Father, reconciles us with the Father and with one another,” the Pope said. “Jesus did not come to pronounce a judgment that condemns, but to offer to everyone his mercy that purifies, heals, transforms and makes us part of the one family of God.”
Warning against social division in the Church. Pope Leo continued:
His compassion and mercy make him an “advocate” in defense of the poor and sinners, not in order to pander to evil, but to free them from oppression and slavery, and to make them children of God and brothers and sisters to each other. It is not the case that Jesus’ actions are limited only to physical or spiritual healing. For they also include an important social and political dimension, for healed persons are reintegrated, with all their dignity, into the human and religious community from which—often because of illness or sin—they were excluded.
This communion is the sign par excellence of the Church, called to be a reflection in this world of the love of God which shows no favoritism (cf. Acts 10:34) ... [Monaco] is a small cosmopolitan State, in which the diversity of origins are also complemented by socio-economic differences. In the Church, such variety should never become the occasion of division into social classes. On the contrary, everyone is welcomed as persons and children of God.
“At the same time, it seems necessary to emphasize a second point: the proclamation of the Gospel in defense of the human person,” the Pope added. Jesus, “as an ‘advocate,’ he speaks up especially in defense of those who were considered abandoned by God and were forgotten and marginalized.”
The Pope explained:
I think thus of a Church called to make herself an “advocate,” namely a defender of the human person, of every man and woman. This involves a crucial and prophetic path of discernment aimed at promoting “the ‘integral development’ of humanity ...
The first service that the proclamation of the Gospel must render is to shine a light on the human person and society so that, illuminated by Christ and his word, they may discover their own identity, the meaning of human life, the value of relationships and social solidarity, the ultimate purpose of our existence and our final destiny.
In this regard, I would like to encourage you to give passionate and generous service to the work of evangelization. Proclaim the Gospel of life, hope and love. Bring the light of the Gospel to everyone so that the life of every man and woman may be defended and promoted from conception until natural death. Offer new pathways capable of stemming the tide of secularism, which risks reducing humanity to individualism and basing social life on the production of wealth.
“How important it is that the proclamation of the Gospel and the practice of the faith, which are embedded in your identity and society, guard themselves from the risk of being reduced to mere habit, even if it is good,” the Pope added. “A living faith is always prophetic, capable of responding to questions and being thought provoking. Are we truly defending human beings? Are we safeguarding the dignity of the person by protecting life in all its stages? Is the current economic and social model truly just and marked by solidarity?”
The Pontiff concluded:
CWN coverage of the Pope’s apostolic journey to Monaco:
- Pope Leo arrives in Monaco, calls on Catholic state to deepen commitment to Church’s social doctrine (3/28/26)
- Pope, in Monaco homily, emphasizes communion, evangelization, defense of human person (3/28/26)
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Further information:
- Apostolic Journey of the Holy Father to the Principality of Monaco (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 3/28/26)
- Apostolic Journey to the Principality of Monaco: Meeting with the Catholic Community (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 3/28/26)
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